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Review: Caffe Roma

I will be honest, I was a little disappointed in this restaurant. It is the latest from restaurateur Agostino Sciandri, who also owns Toscanova at the Century City Mall which I reviewed, and Ago with Robert DeNiro.

Before going in, I looked over the menu at Caffe Roma, which is in Beverly Hills, and experienced deja vu. Turns out I'd seen this menu before...at Toscanova! Literally word for word the same menu. Some of the entries were shuffled about, but the two were almost identical.

The meal was fine, not bad, not great, but just fine. The real highlight was sitting two tables away from Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now that is a real A-list celebrity sighting. Perhaps the best moment was when the octagenarians eating lunch next to me turned to look at his table, which was occupied by successful-looking men sharing a joke and a hearty laugh, and asked, "What's he got to be happy about? The state is in terrible shape!" Here here!

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